I think the article about the s7 for cost of parts was from April or May, pretty close after launch as that would have only gone down as months progressed. At the time, the SD 820 was the most expensive part at $64. That has certainly come down.

Manufacturing, labor, advertising make up the majority cost of almost any electronics.

Yes, just like with any electronics and repair. You have an inexpensive part and the labor is crazy price.

They can't get back the cost of labor on making these phones. Also with manufacturing like this, it basically cost the same to run one as it does to run 1000. One run cost the same if you have one phone on there or if you have 100.

They didn't rush them this year. Release date.. One year from the Note 5.

Either way... I believe manufacturers are too quick to get their devices on the shelves. It seems they hold the release date to a higher regard than quality control. Obviously! As I've stated in another thread, they got lucky with the Note 5. It's a solid device for sure, but manufacturers could spend more time squashing bugs and testing their product imo.

In the tech Business, if you are not fast at everything, you will have no business. Likewise, poor quality will lead to lost business. A difficult situation... If the phone came out 3 months later, but was 100% good quality, most customers would be complaining about the use of old/common chips and technology... Difficult to win. And to further the problems for big phone manufacturers, is that smaller companies can make a similar product with 95% of the same tech and sell for less. This happens with any technology. What was once "special" becomes "common".

Either way... I believe manufacturers are too quick to get their devices on the shelves. It seems they hold the release date to a higher regard than quality control. Obviously! As I've stated in another thread, they got lucky with the Note 5. It's a solid device for sure, but manufacturers could spend more time squashing bugs and testing their product imo.

The way to tell if the phone is recalled is by the manufactured date. The recalled phones will have that date. Myself, I do not think Samsung will risk putting those phones on the market. The parts costs Samsung very little. Even if they fix it, and someone blows up a battery using the wrong charger, they will likely try to Samsung.

I think, again this is just my opinion, the amount of money Samsung has on each phone they are recalling, is way too little to take the risk of making them into refurbs.

The way to tell if the phone is recalled is by the manufactured date. The recalled phones will have that date. Myself, I do not think Samsung will risk putting those phones on the market. The parts costs Samsung very little. Even if they fix it, and someone blows up a battery using the wrong charger, they will likely try to Samsung.

I think, again this is just my opinion, the amount of money Samsung has on each phone they are recalling, is way too little to take the risk of making them into refurbs.

Wouldn't there be a refurbished date? Isn't that how they tell on other phones that are sent back and refurbished. Then sent to customers under warranty or sold as prepay phones. Consumers have to know what they're getting.

Interestingly, according to Comsumer Reports, it looks like Samsung hasn't filed an official recall yet with the CPCD, that "would have made it illegal to sell the phones". Another reason to check those build dates if you choose to purchase from other than an authorized credible dealer.

"Samsung said on Friday it had stopped selling the Note7, and would replace models that consumers had already purchased. But the company’s action was not an official recall, which would have involved the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and would have made it illegal to sell the phones. Consumer Reports shoppers checked multiple retailers Friday morning, and found the phone for sale at some of them.

If Samsung was initiating the recall process, its first step would be to immediately report any issues to the CPSC. According to the Consumer Product Safety Act, two of the criteria for reporting are if the product "contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard," or "creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death." The CPSC would then evaluate these reports and determine if corrective action is required. The agency also works with companies to determine the scope, hazard, and remedy, and makes recommendations.

In addition, the CPSC has the ability to pursue a recall with a company after it investigates reports of problems received from consumers or other stakeholders such as safety advocates.

While you may have seen headlines saying Samsung recalled the phone, a government official said there’s no official recall. Samsung didn’t respond to a request for more information about the Note7 announcement.

Consumer Reports Urges Official Recall of Note7
An official recall also would include clear guidance on next steps for consumers. Samsung has only said, “For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current devices with a new one over the coming weeks.”

“Samsung should immediately initiate an official recall with the Consumer Product Safety Commission given the serious nature of the safety problem it identified with the Galaxy Note7,” said Maria Rerecich, Consumer Reports director of electronics testing. “We are particularly concerned that phones continue to be available for sale today.”

ummm... i might be having a really challenged moment, but... this article says it is estimated that this recall will cost Samsung $1 billion... to replace 250 million phones... this comes out to a cost of replacement for them of $4 each, right? Just wondering how that can be? Is my math off or something???

ummm... i might be having a really challenged moment, but... this article says it is estimated that this recall will cost Samsung $1 billion... to replace 250 million phones... this comes out to a cost of replacement for them of $4 each, right? Just wondering how that can be? Is my math off or something???

Interestingly, according to Comsumer Reports, it looks like Samsung hasn't filed an official recall yet with the CPCD, that "would have made it illegal to sell the phones". Another reason to check those build dates if you choose to purchase from other than an authorized credible dealer.

This isn't news, most knew this. This is why so many have been telling everyone this is what a Voluntary Recall is.

ummm... i might be having a really challenged moment, but... this article says it is estimated that this recall will cost Samsung $1 billion... to replace 250 million phones... this comes out to a cost of replacement for them of $4 each, right? Just wondering how that can be? Is my math off or something???

if I missed the answer elsewhere, I apologize.

It is very likely very correct. The parts for electronics are cheap. The highest costs are labor on repair and making.

Wouldn't there be a refurbished date? Isn't that how they tell on other phones that are sent back and refurbished. Then sent to customers under warranty or sold as prepay phones. Consumers have to know what they're getting.

I don't know how they do the dates with a refurbished phone.

I seriously doubt these returned phones will ever see the market as whole phones. I really doubt Samsung will risk it. There are plenty of ways to recoup the money.

ummm... i might be having a really challenged moment, but... this article says it is estimated that this recall will cost Samsung $1 billion... to replace 250 million phones... this comes out to a cost of replacement for them of $4 each, right? Just wondering how that can be? Is my math off or something???

if I missed the answer elsewhere, I apologize.

As others have said, its 2.5 million, so $400 each.

But it isn't just the cost to replace them. The number includes the loss in sales and stuff. So it isn't actually a cost per device being replaced. They will most likely be sold as refurbished too.

And its an estimate by a third party. Not necessarily reality.

Analysts apparently don't think Samsung's brand image has been harmed much since they acted quickly and decisively. So I don't think many expect costs in loss of sales to be too high.

Lost customer sales opportunity (first three months is where most sales and inertia is generated)

iPhone 7 is this week

The cost to return, manage, refurbish and disposition almost one billion dollars of inventory capital, plus build more devices to cover the returns is profoundly di$turbing for Samsung.

If there are fires with the replacement devices... Not seeing how they can expedite so quickly and be sure no more battery issues. Also not seeing how they could purge and replenish the supply chain and then build and test enough to be sure- if devices shipping as early as next week.

Lost customer sales opportunity (first three months is where most sales and inertia is generated)

iPhone 7 is this week

The cost to return, manage, refurbish and disposition almost one billion dollars of inventory capital, plus build more devices to cover the returns is profoundly di$turbing for Samsung.

If there are fires with the replacement devices... Not seeing how they can expedite so quickly and be sure no more battery issues. Also not seeing how they could purge and replenish the supply chain and then build and test enough to be sure.

Even LG must be licking their chops now for extra sales.

They have built the parts for the phones long ago. The parts are sitting in boxes. Those are waiting for batteries, no rush to get out these phones.

You run a line and it cost the same to make one phone or 1000 if that is how many the line will take.

There is no "building" of phones, the parts they have are fine, they got new batteries, now they assemble the phones.

There are phones you order because you can order your back color, your side strip, etc. You order it today and you have it 72 hours later.

Foxconn makes 500K iPhones a day. Making the phones doesn't take a long time. All the parts were made long ago.

The battery though is the issue (based on the failure location of burns). If a systemic issue with the batteries, all would have to be purged and scrapped and then new verified product in place. Samsung apparently uses Six Sigma in all operations, so this getting past that process would seem odd, but the failure rate so far would be under the radar.

Point is how could they validate so quickly? That would make the issue more apparent and bad news for some folks in their supply chain.

The battery though is the issue (based on the failure location of burns). If a systemic issue with the batteries, all would have to be purged and scrapped and then new verified product in place. Samsung apparently uses Six Sigma in all operations, so this getting past that process would seem odd, but the failure rate so far would be under the radar.

They said specifically the battery cells.

They also knew exactly what was wrong when they announced and said within two weeks for replacements and they started new production before they announced.

They are now saying they will start shipping this week.

They already did the investigations and isolated the problem when they announced the recall and has corrected it and started back.

Myself, I do not think Samsung will risk putting those phones on the market. The parts costs Samsung very little. Even if they fix it, and someone blows up a battery using the wrong charger, they will likely try to Samsung.

I think, again this is just my opinion, the amount of money Samsung has on each phone they are recalling, is way too little to take the risk of making them into refurbs.

Originally Posted by Kelly Kearns

I seriously doubt these returned phones will ever see the market as whole phones. I really doubt Samsung will risk it. There are plenty of ways to recoup the money.

I agree that Samsung wouldn't take chances on reselling the recalled phones. From what I can tell there is no way that could replace the batteries in these without cracking the glass on them.

Unless they have a test that they can put them through that will explode or not explode them, and then recirculate the non-explosive phones.

I charged mine this morning (while having it in max power saving mode) using the Samsung wired charging that came with the phone, and my phone never got warm at all. I don't think my phone/battery has the issue, but I will trade it in (just for peace of mind) if/when I get the official recall notice from Samsung. (I'll mis my current Note7 as I haven't had any issues with it, and it's been very well taken care of -its still in the same mint condition as when I took it out of the box).

If they were to recirculate these phones it could bring a new meaning to the term "burner phone".

What i don't understand about this whole thing is why didn't Samsung property test the phones before putting them on sale. Surely they would have tested them for any electrical defect and run them for hours and hours on a test bench. Did that not indicate any problems? What are the quality controls in the battery factory?

What i don't understand about this whole thing is why didn't Samsung property test the phones before putting them on sale. Surely they would have tested them for any electrical defect and run them for hours and hours on a test bench. Did that not indicate any problems? What are the quality controls in the battery factory?

You don't think they tested them? You can't test every single phone or every single battery once it rolls off the assembly line.